


The Checklist

by viennajones



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bisexuality, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-28
Updated: 2015-12-28
Packaged: 2018-05-10 01:43:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5564161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/viennajones/pseuds/viennajones
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Mithian decides that she wants to expand her sexual horizon, Elena helps her come up with a list of things to try. Unfortunately, she belatedly realizes that she'd really like for Mithian to be trying them out with her instead of other people.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Checklist

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ingberry](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ingberry/gifts).



> Dear ingberry, 
> 
> I hope you enjoy your gift - I chose to go with one of the prompts you gave me and I hope that I did it justice. 
> 
> Happy Holidays!
> 
> Many thanks to my beta!

Elena could feel the pleasant buzz caused by just the right amount of alcohol rushing through her veins. Her lips were tingling as she laughed at something stupid Arthur was saying, a little too loudly. She closed her eyes for a second and leaned her head against his shoulder, enjoying the way the voices around her blurred into a single, humming background noise.

“You’re drunk, Ellie,” Arthur said. Elena could tell that he was far past the point of soberness himself, so she just elbowed him in the ribs and sat up straight again.

“You know drunk Elena. This is hardly it,” Mithian chimed in from across the table. For the tenth time that night, the sparkly pendant hanging around her neck caught Elena’s eye. She reminded herself to look up at Mithian’s face so it didn’t seem like she was staring at her roommate’s tits (again).

“True. The night is still young, though,” Arthur replied.

“Ugh, you did not just say that. And isn’t it time for you to go call your boyfriend? I think it’s probably morning on the other side of the world.”

“What are you doing, Elena? We almost made it through the night without him becoming a mopey baby because he misses Merlin,” Gwaine groaned. He actually tried to kick her shin but missed, making Arthur curse.

“Actually, I am going to call him now, and also I have not been a baby, assholes,” he said, getting up amidst the laughter of his friends.

“Such a baby,” Elena said with a grin, once Arthur had stepped outside. 

“Shots?” Gwaine asked and was on his way over to the bar before anybody could raise any protest.

*

Things went downhill from there. Considering that Gwaine was the devil and Tequila had never been Elena’s friend, she should’ve seen it coming. That in itself, of course, would not have been enough to ruin a perfectly good night. Sometime before the third round of shots, Mithian disappeared. The next time Elena saw her was after the fifth, when she was stumbling to the bathroom, and there was a decidedly handsome guy attached to Mithian’s lips.

Being reminded of a hopeless crush sucked even on a good day and in Elena’s state of intoxication, it felt like the most devastating thing in the world. She felt a sudden need to run away from the crowded pub and the image of Mithian’s body pressed up against a wall, so she bolted.

The cold winter air helped a little with clearing her head, but only enough for her to realize that she was feeling extremely nauseated. She did make it around the street corner at least before she bent over and threw up, cursing herself and the terrible life choices she made.

She could feel someone carefully lifting her hair up and holding it back while a hand ran across her back in soothing circles.

Arthur waited until she was done and handed her a piece of gum before he said, “I shouldn’t have left you alone in there with Gwaine. He is a terrible friend. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, maybe. I don’t know,” she mumbled. She eyed the gum and smelled it to try and see if it would just make her throw up some more. After a second she decided she didn’t care, because the taste in her mouth was disgusting.

“Let’s get you home,” Arthur said, putting an arm around her shoulder. Elena nodded and was all but ready to let him lead her back to her place when she remembered that Mithian was probably bringing that guy back to their apartment.

“Hey, actually – can I stay at yours tonight, maybe?”

“Sure, but why would you want to walk to my place for thirty minutes when you could be in your bed within ten?”

“Because I am stupid. I make stupid decisions. Stupid, stupid decisions.”

Arthur gave her shoulder a squeeze and smiled. “Well, we’ve got a long walk ahead of us, so why don’t you tell me what kind of decisions you’ve made so I can judge the level of stupidity we’re dealing with here?”

*

_“We should do this again,” Cendred said, lingering on the doorstep like he was waiting for Elena to change her mind about sending him off into the night. Since that wasn’t going to happen, she gave him a parting kiss that also pushed him squarely out into the hall._

_“Call me!” she said and retreated, shutting the door quickly. For some reason, she really had a talent for picking up guys that didn’t understand the concept of a one night stand._

_Walking past the living room on her way back to bed, she saw the TV light flickering. The volume was almost inaudible. She checked the time on her phone and thought that perhaps Mithian had fallen asleep watching Netflix again._

_To her surprise, Mithian was perfectly awake. She was wrapped into a blanket and drinking a cup of tea while watching what seemed to be a terrible romance movie judging by the fact that two ridiculously gorgeous people were making out against the backdrop of a beautiful lake landscape._

_“Can’t sleep?” Elena asked, flopping down next to her on the couch. Mithian hesitated and looked at Elena a little sheepishly until the penny dropped._

_“Oh my god,” she said and hid her face behind her hands for a second. “I am so sorry! He was a loud one.”_

_“Don’t worry about it. Gave me a chance to catch up on my watchlist,” Mithian replied with a smile, gesticulating at the TV. “Besides, it’s good that at least one of us is getting some,” she added quietly._

_Thinking about it, Elena didn’t remember Mithian ever bringing anyone home, and they’d been roommates for almost a year now. She’d always assumed that Mithian maybe preferred to stay at the guys’ place, but then she also couldn’t remember ever hearing her come home during the early hours of the morning._

_“Been that long, huh?” she asked._

_“Too long. I wish I knew how you do it, honestly,” Mithian said with a sigh._

_“I can’t really imagine how you would have trouble finding someone for a little bit of fun if that’s what you’re looking for. You’re smart, you’re fun and you’re gorgeous. I don’t see the problem.”_

_“I know, I know. Okay, I’m going to tell you something, but you have to swear that you won’t ever tell the guys. Gwaine would never let me hear the end of it, or worse, never stop trying to get into my pants, ever.” She grabbed the remote and paused the movie._

_“I’ll never tell, promise!” Elena said, angling her body towards Mithian, who took a deep breath and looked down at her hands, which were still holding the cup of tea._

_“I have actually only been with one guy. He was my boyfriend in high school, and we really didn’t…try much. Or at least he didn’t try things with me. So I am a 25-year old with next to no experience and I don’t really know where to start at all.”_

_This wasn’t quite what Elena had been expecting, but it definitely explained a few things. She suddenly felt very sorry for the fact that she had kept Mithian awake before like that, and more than once._

_“Well, you’re in luck, because I can definitely help you with a place to start and make suggestions on how to take it to the next level. Hell, I could be your wing-woman. I am awesome at that. If it’s what you want, I mean.”_

_“Yes please?” Mithian said, finally looking up from her cup of tea. She looked a little embarrassed, but mostly excited and relieved._

_“Perfect. I’m going to find a pen and paper, you think about a couple of things you’d like to try and then we’ll take it from there,” Elena said, grinning._

*

“And so we made a list of great sex stuff that she could try. And she’s been working on checking all the boxes ever since. Which is really good for her, I think, but less awesome for me, because I sort of wish she was checking them off with me,” Elena said.

They’d made it to Arthur’s apartment and were sharing a chocolate bar in his obscenely large bed. Elena belatedly realized that she had just spilled Mithian’s secret and turned to the side, looking at Arthur with wide eyes.

“You can’t ever tell anyone you know about this! Mithian is going to kill me. Arthur, if you care about me at all, you can never ever tell anyone.”

Arthur laughed and passed her another bottle of water. He was taking the hangover prevention very seriously.

“Don’t worry. I haven’t been drunk enough to inadvertently blurt out other people’s secrets in a very long time.”

“That’s because you are wise, Arthur Pendragon. Very wise.”

“I can assure you, it has more to do with the fact that Merlin thinks I’m an arse when I’m drunk, and he’s not wrong. Also I am getting too old for the hangovers, honestly.”

“You’re what, two years older than I am? Can’t be that bad. But yeah, you have a tendency to be mean when you’re drunk, so it’s probably for the best.” She took the last bite of chocolate and chewed it slowly, considering that perhaps she should just give up on alcohol altogether.

“Do you want my advice?” Arthur asked.

“Sure, I suppose that can’t hurt,” Elena said, shrugging.

“Keeping in mind that I don’t know Mithian as well as I know you, I think you should talk to her. This thing is clearly not working for you at all, and you never know, you might just get what you want if you try to go for it. I’ve never known you to be afraid of that.”

“I guess it’s easier to go for what you want if you don’t want it too much,” Elena mumbled and pressed her head into the pillow.

“You should sleep on it, Ellie. It’s never a good idea to make decisions in the middle of the night after you’ve puked your guts out. Believe me, I know.”

*

The next day was hell. All of Arthur’s special water and all the painkillers in the world weren’t enough to make Elena’s hangover less terrible and she only made it out of bed because Arthur made her an incredibly greasy breakfast and promised that getting some food into her stomach would help. It didn’t help nearly enough, but at least her stomach was no longer growling as though she hadn’t eaten anything in weeks.

In the afternoon, she finally felt sure enough that she wasn’t going to run into Mithian’s conquest and decided it was time to go home and hide in her own bed again. Mithian didn’t seem to be home when Elena arrived, which was just as well, and she grabbed all the ice cream from the freezer before she crawled under the blankets with the remote and firm plans to eat every last bit of it while watching whatever she could find on TV.

She had just finished flipping through all the channels to see what was out there when she heard the front door open and shut. She considered pressing mute on the remote and pretending that she wasn’t home, but decided that it was too ridiculous. She heard Mithian shuffle around in the hallway for a minute or two and then there was a knock on her door.

“Come in,” she said before realizing that she was surrounded by three huge boxes of ice cream that she probably could’ve hidden before Mithian came in. Too late now.

“Hey Ellie,” Mithian said and took in the picture that presented itself to her. “Oh boy, is your hangover that bad? I kind of lost track of you last night and you weren’t here when I got home, or in the morning. Where’d you end up spending the night?”

“Arthur wanted to make sure I didn’t die in my sleep, so he made me come to his place,” Elena lied. Arthur would back her up, she was almost 78 per cent sure of that.

Mithian laughed and plopped down on the bed next to Elena.

“Arthur needs a hobby. Better yet, he needs Merlin to come back so he doesn’t feel lonely in that big ass bed of his.”

“His bed is amazing, though.” Even thinking about it made Elena regret not buying a better mattress for her own bed.

“Agreed,” Mithian said, eyeing one of the ice cream boxes. “Mind if I join you? I kind of had a shitty night. I need the comfort of ice cream and whatever you decide we should watch.”

Elena hesitated for a second. She was curious to find out how making out with a hot guy had turned into a shitty night, but decided that Mithian would tell her if she wanted to. So she pulled back the covers and handed the ice cream to Mithian.

“Musical or Comedy?”

*

Elena’s phone was buzzing for the third time in a row. Mithian actually raised an eyebrow in her general direction because the sound of a phone vibrating on the table was completely ruining the dramatic pauses in an intense scene of the drama they were watching.

Knowing full well that it was Arthur, who’d been bugging her all day long, Elena finally picked up the phone. She carefully angled the screen away from Mithian.

_9:31 pm - Jesus, Ellie! Just talk to her. Please._

_9:43 pm - You told me she hasn’t brought anyone home in like a month, and she hasn’t spent the night anywhere else. We know because you’ve been hanging out every night!_

_9:57 pm - This is your last chance. I am telling Merlin._

Elena winced a little. She had begged Arthur not to tell Merlin, who had known Mithian all his life. They were as close as siblings, who liked each other as much as only the best of friends do. If Merlin knew, there was no fucking way he’d keep it from Mithian.

Elena was about to text Arthur ( _I hate you and don’t tell Merlin, gdi!_ ) when a text from Merlin popped up on her phone.

_10:05 pm – You should talk to Mithian, trust me. xx_

She changed her text to Arthur ( _I hate you, traitor!_ ) and hit send, before switching her phone into flight mode and tossing it onto the table with a little more force than necessary. Her friends were terrible people. Arthur liked to pretend that Gwaine was the bad one, but at least Gwaine only got her drunk on Tequila and wasn’t trying to make her confess her feelings to someone. Gwaine was a way better friend than Arthur.

“Everything okay?” Mithian asked.

“Arthur’s being an asshole. Nevermind, though.”

Elena stared at the TV screen without really seeing what was happening anymore. Her thoughts kept drifting towards Merlin’s text. Merlin, who knew Mithian so well, but who’d also been living on the other side of the world for the past few months. Elena didn’t know how often he and Mithian spoke. Perhaps he knew something, perhaps he didn’t. She kept chewing on that particular mystery for another thirty minutes, until the credits rolled.

“I’m going to make tea. Do you want some?” Elena asked, getting up. Mithian nodded in agreement.

In the kitchen, Elena made a decision while she waited for the water to boil. She could at least put out some feelers and see what was going on in Mithian’s love life. That couldn’t hurt (much). On impulse, she grabbed a package of cookies as well and returned to the living room with the teapot, mugs and the cookies, which Mithian immediately opened.

“Hey, I’d been meaning to ask you – how’s it going with your list?”

Mithian seemed to consider the question while chewing on one of the cookies. It seemed like she was avoiding eye contact until she swallowed slowly and put the rest of the cookie down on the table.

“Mh. Well, I kind of haven’t been doing that for a while now. It got less interesting after a while, and there’s really only one thing on it that I still want to do.”

“What’s that, then?” Elena kept herself busy by pouring tea into the cups.

Mithian leaned slightly to the side to grab her bag that was sitting on the floor and rummaged through it for a second before she pulled out a piece of paper that seemed worn from use and a life lived at the bottom of a woman’s handbag.

“Here,” she said and held it out to Elena, who put the teapot down and took it.

Elena slowly unfolded the paper and glanced at the list. Quite a few of the things she’d scribbled on there in her crooked handwriting had been crossed off, but there were also many that Mithian hadn’t gotten around to yet. Elena was a little confused as to which one she was referring to, until she spotted an item at the very bottom of the list which had been added later on.

 “I was wondering if you could help me with that one, maybe,” Mithian said with a hopeful smile.

Elena’s pulse was going way too fast and she was trying her best not to grin from ear to ear as she folded the paper again.

“Who on earth taught you to be so smooth?” She asked, finally meeting Mithian’s eyes. Mithian opened her mouth to answer, but Elena didn’t really give her a chance.

She was already kissing Mithian, who was wonderful and perfect and kissing her back. For a second there, Elena thought that she should probably thank Arthur and Merlin, but that and every other thought went flying out the window when Mithian did something with her tongue that made Elena’s insides melt.

*

There’s a piece of paper on their fridge now that Mithian tries to cover up with post cards every time they have guests, because she’s still a little embarrassed at some of the things on there.

Elena always makes sure, though, that the last item on the list, which has been underlined and surrounded with pink highlighter hearts, is visible. It has been checked off for a while now.

_24 – Fall in love._


End file.
